Three Flowers
by Atlas Arrow
Summary: Rumor gets ready to marry Patrick and enter a normal life. The night before her wedding though, a surprise visit changes everything. Rumor/Space
1. Chapter 1

"Oh," Rumor said, "Hi Luther. Nice to see you."

To be perfectly honest, it wasn't nice to see him. In the morning she would be marrying Patrick and she did **not **want to be thinking about her family right now. She just wanted to get some sleep so that she'd look perfect in the morning. This couldn't be conducive to her already stretched wedding nerves. Rumor really wanted him to leave. She'd always been particularly good at lying though, so this wasn't a big stretch for her.

She just wasn't comfortable around him anymore. Deep down Rumor doubted that she had ever been comfortable with any of the Hargreeves. Alright, so she had always been kind of close to Space. During her twenties she had been under the impression that she loved him, which she hadn't. Obviously it had just been a bit of an infatuation.

When she realized that he didn't reciprocate her 'infatuation', she'd met Patrick. Well, a few weeks afterwards. Two months. Okay, it had been three months. He had a real job. He was dependable and was always telling her just how pretty she was. It hadn't taken him too long to propose to her. She hadn't had to tell a lie to him either. Rumor was very proud of that.

Her 'father' hadn't liked it. Hargeeves's big objection was probably the fact that she wanted to drop out when she got married. Rumor wanted kids, perhaps a daughter, and being a superhero as well didn't seem particularly smart. He'd told her that she was still a Hargreeves and she would still do what he wanted her to.

In the morning, she wouldn't be a Hargreeves anymore though. She'd be Allison Johnson. There wasn't anything bad about the name Johnson. It didn't conjure up the image of brightly clad people running around and fighting monuments. Johnson was a respectable name, a **normal **name. When she took that she was going to go and forget all about being a Hargreeves.

So it wasn't surprising that she didn't want to be reminded about her family the night before she got this name. Rumor didn't even know how he'd gotten into her apartment. She supposed that he had his ways, which also made her uncomfortable. Still, she forced a smile on her face.

"What brings you here?" she asked.

"Hargreeves told me you were getting married," he said, "I'm going back to the moon tomorrow at 1300…so I thought that giving my congratulations now instead of tomorrow would be appropriate."

"Thanks," she said, "Do you want some coffee or tea or…something?"

"No."

For a few minutes there was a rather awkward silence. He looked around as if searching for a topic. Finally his eyes rested on her open closet.

"Nice dress," he commented at last.

"Oh, that?"

Oh that indeed. From what she had been told the outfit had cost a small fortune. In the front only the bodice was particularly detailed and embroidered. The back, however, was lace up with the skirt gathered into the back over a pleated cascade of silken folds. The dress even had a train. In short it was the wedding dress that every little girl dreamed she would finally wear when she married her prince.

Rumor knew it would look rather flattering on her, as everything always did. She was also rather proud of the bouquet she'd be holding. Unlike the dress, it had never changed since she was little. It had always been made of the same three flowers. She'd read that it was symbolic and traditional. There were roses for eternal love, lilies for sweetness, and baby's breath for kids. That, however, was still being made.

"It's handmade," she said rather proudly, "I always did want a big wedding."

"You never did do things by half," smiled Space.

Rumor nodded, and for a minute the uncomfortable silence returned.

"So…this…Paul…what's he do?" he asked.

"It's Patrick," corrected Rumor, "And he works at Perseus Cooperations. Regional manager."

"That's good," Space said, nodding his head, "That's a good job I suppose. Probably has a steady income and all. Pretty rich family I'm guessing? With big fancy expensive college traditions too?"

"Pretty much," Rumor admitted.

"Hm."

"What does that mean?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"What does what mean?"

"The hm!" Rumor said accusationally.

"It's just a noise," shrugged Space, "It doesn't mean anything. It was involuntary to tell the truth. Just punctuation to what I was thinking."

Very slowly Rumor looked him up and down once. Good grief, this wasn't what she wanted at all the night before her wedding. Still, she wasn't about to let that one go.

"What were you thinking?" she said, her voice low.

Space started looking around, as if for inspiration. Finally in a resigned gesture he sighed. Then he looked her in the eye and said;

"You're going to be a doll after you get married."

"Excuse me?"

He smiled, almost condescendingly but at the same time with sadness.

"They're going to dress you up and parade you around," he said, "That's a doll. Of course, other people say that's a trophy wife. Depends on which phrase you prefer."

Rumor tried to keep her angry words from rushing out. This was difficult because he was **still **using that damned I-know-better-then-you tone.

"I just figured you were better then that."

So much for that.

"Look here," she snapped, "Don't you think that I know that's what I'm going to be? Hell Luther, I knew that was what I was going to be from the minute he asked me out. I'm not stupid."

Surprise and shock registered in his eyes.

"So then…why-?"

"Why am I marrying him? Is that what you were going to ask?" demanded Rumor, "Well I'll have you know that it'll make me **normal**. It'll get me away from that stupid Academy and into a life where people play bridge on Sundays and walk their kids to a school and shop for groceries."

"You want a normal life?" he asked with a touch of dismay.

Rage flowed back into Rumor until she pounded on the table and yelled;

"How dare you think that I don't want normal! How fucking dare you! You can't tell me what to do and you just can't seem to stop lecturing us! I'm not better than a normal life dammit!"

All the words had come pouring out before she could stop them. Nonetheless, they felt good to say. She wanted someone to know, someone to know that she was getting away from that awful life in that awful place.

"Do you love him though?" there was a desperation in his eyes as he asked.

His voice sounded almost pitiful when he asked that. Thoroughly taken back she said;

"What kind of question is that? Of course I do."

How easily the lies tumbled from her lips. Did she love Patrick? That was the question. She did **like **him in the very least. As for love, no she didn't. In a way she did though. She loved that he was going to get her away from the Academy. It had nothing to do with him as a person. He probably could've been any other guy if he could give her what he was offering. Yet, when it came from her lips it sounded true.

Something in Space broke and he sighed again. Then he gave a hoarse chuckle.

"What?" she asked defiantly.

If he was going to insult her again then the very least he could do was get it over with as quickly as possible.

"Nothing," he said sadly, "It's just…when I came here I had this whole speech ready. The normal sort of lecture. I was prepared to give it too."

Color flushed into her face as she hissed;

"Don't you dare play team leader with me any more. There isn't any team so you can just quit-"

"But I realized that it's pointless," he said softly and with a note of resignation, "You love him…so what's the point? You love him and you…you don't love me. So me coming down here and trying to convince you not to marry him is essentially pointless."

She blinked. Was she catching all of this?

"I think I'd pay any amount of money to be in Patrick's place tomorrow. Hell," he said wistfully, "I think I'd give anything. But you want normal and that's something I can't give you no matter how much I try…I'm sorry for that. Sorry that I can't give you what you want and sorry that it's not going to be with you in that dress tomorrow. Sorry that you're going to marry someone who probably doesn't deserve you. Then again, neither do I. But…he's what you want."

He looked forlorn for a minute before finishing with;

"So, congratulations, and have a good time as Mrs. Johnson."

For once in her life, Rumor was speechless. She continued to be so as Space left quietly. Finally she walked to the kitchen and sat down meekly in a chair. She'd been right. This wasn't the sort of thing that was conducive to wedding nerves at all.


	2. Chapter 2

For what must've been the fiftieth time that morning Rumor put lipstick on. It didn't make much of a difference. No matter how many times she put it on her lips still looked redder then anything she had ever seen, with the exception of blood of course. All in all it was a pointless activity. She needed something to distract her though. To distract her from how goddamned **pretty **she looked.

That was because she looked very pretty. Her hair was done up in just the right way and not a strand was out of place. The long veil had been very carefully placed so that it wouldn't tip the fragile balance of her upsweep. As for make-up, she always did her own make-up the best. She knew exactly how to bring out her already pretty face with just the right pretty shades of red and purple.

The dress was pretty on her. It fit her perfectly and brought out everything about her figure that she liked while disguising everything she didn't. Its pure ivory tone brought out the rosy, but not flushed, hue of her skin. The train seemed only to put emphasis on how petite and graceful she was. Diamonds that had been a gift from Patrick a few months ago hung flatteringly around her neck and at the same time weren't too overbearing. The whole effect was very, very pretty.

She wanted to mess up her makeup until it looked like she was some sort of bizarre clown. Once she was done with that she wanted to drop the lipstick over her dress and ruin it's pretty whiteness. Then wanted to tear off her veil and pick apart her necklace piece by piece. Rumor wanted to destroy the whole carefully cultivated pretty image as soon as humanly possible. For once in her very pretty life Rumor wanted to feel ugly. No, not just ugly, hideous.

That's what she was feeling on the inside anyway. Hideous. In precisely twenty minutes she was going to walk down an aisle and be the doll who married the handsome prince and escaped into the land of the sugar plum fairies. Rumor had thought that she'd been resigned to that. She thought that she was ready to exchange her status as a human being for normality. Turns out that she wasn't.

After Space had left the previous night she couldn't help but think about what he had told her. His words about her being a doll washed over her, how she was better then that. Then his words about how he loved her and wished he could be in Patrick's place came. Needless to say Rumor hadn't gotten any sleep.

Tiredly Rumor looked at the bouquet she was supposed to be carrying. Putting down her lipstick she picked it up. Roses, for eternal love, lilies for sweetness, babies breath for…well…that was obvious. It had been done up rather nicely and would look very, and here was the word again, pretty with the outfit. She hated that word because it was all she was ever called by anyone. That was their only compliment.

Rumor twirled the bouquet in her hands once or twice. It wasn't particularly big, but it was very important. Basically, that bouquet represented everything she wanted her future life to be. She wanted to be loved, to have a sweet and amazing marriage, and obviously she wanted one or two kids.

Patrick had represented that. Or had he? Roses for eternal love. He loved her in the way that many monarchs had probably loved their arranged marriages. In other words it was useful and would probably look good. She didn't really love him either. Once again she was just using someone to get what she wanted. There wasn't any love in this match. So it appeared that roses were out.

You couldn't have a sweet marriage without any love in it. Well, you could probably pretend for a few years. She had had a family without anyone she cared about in it after all. Still, like the Hargreeves, it would end badly. Rumor wasn't particularly smart when it came to these sort of things, otherwise she wouldn't be in that outfit in the first place. Even so, lilies shouldn't be in there either.

Now there was baby's breath. How could you bring a child into a marriage of convenience? In all probability she would get a divorce in the end. That's what you get when you do a miserable marriage. She closed her eyes. Rumor had done some bad things in her life. Yet, she had never intentionally ruined the life of a child. No, she didn't think that she could do that. So forget about baby's breath.

It appeared that Rumor shouldn't be carrying a bouquet. She placed it tiredly onto the vanity table next to the lipstick and stared into the mirror. Perhaps she should carry daisies for normality. That's all she was going to get out of this marriage. Normality. Not love, not a happy future, not kids. She was going to get normality. It didn't seem like it was enough all of a sudden.

Rumor knew that she could run away. That was always an option. Where would she run away to though? She didn't really have a life or anyone that she could depend on. Almost immediately Space flashed in front of her eyes. Irritated at her own subconscious she tried to shake the image out. It wouldn't budge.

He loved her. He really did. While it had taken her a good deal of time last night she had realized that she felt the same. So much for it being an 'infatuation'. He had never called her pretty because something like that had never been important to him. Rumor looked down at the bouquet.

Could she depend upon him though? If Hargreeves told him to jump he asked how high? What if Hargreeves told him to give her up? He'd probably fold like a deck of cards. Yet, there was the utter desperation she'd seen in his eyes. Maybe he loved her enough to be able to put his foot down and say no.

Normality versus love. Only a moron wouldn't be able to see that one definitely outweighed the other. All her life Rumor had fought for normalcy. Now, on the eve of achieving it, it suddenly didn't seem quite so important. It turned out that there were other things in the world that she wanted more.

Yet, this was all conjecture. It was conjecture that should've been done before she'd planned the wedding. It was conjecture that she should've done before she'd accepted his proposal. Back then she didn't have the information she had now though. No matter, it was too late for her to do anything about any of it.

Rumor knew that even if she wanted to she wouldn't run away. Something like that would be too brash, too bold, and too stupid. There was a church full of people who were waiting for her to go out there. Patrick was nice in his own way. There was no way that she would do this in front of him to his entire family. No, Rumor was going to have to go through those doors. She wouldn't run away.

After all, that was the pretty thing to do. That was the thing that everyone expected a pretty girl like her to go off and do. She felt like that word was driving her mad and mocking her with everything that she couldn't have. Rumor felt like if she heard that word one more time she would go absolutely mad. Yet, she would do it. She would do the pretty thing again.

The door creaked open and Patrick peered in.

"The service is going to start in a minute," he said.

"The groom's not supposed to see the bride before the wedding," she said with a weak smile.

"Well, let's risk it. Are you ready?"

Rumor nodded, giving herself one last hard look in the mirror.

"Just…give me a minute…okay?"

"All right," he smiled before closing the door behind her, "And I gotta tell you honey, you look really pretty!"

.

.

.

When the music started up Rumor didn't walk down the aisle. People assumed that she was just running a little late as brides often do and didn't say anything. Five minutes later people started to speculate. Ten minutes later a few people had started to whisper their ideas and theories. Fifteen minutes later a bridesmaid was sent to go see what had happened.

She came back pale faced and said that Patrick had better come with her. He'd frowned and asked what the matter was. She turned a little paler and said that he had better see it for himself. Still frowning Patrick had followed her. A few minutes later he came back with the same expression as the bridesmaid. He announced that the wedding had been cancelled.

Older relatives would nod knowingly and get up quietly. A few of the younger relatives would venture into the room where Rumor had been getting ready. Those that did saw a message, scrawled in lipstick across the mirror, that read;

"Fuck pretty. I'm out of here."


	3. Chapter 3

"This is all your fault you know."

Space turned around and stared at her. Rumor was something to be stared at, certainly. For one thing she hadn't bothered changing out of her wedding dress. There hadn't been enough time for that. Everything had been sort of a split second decision. For some odd reason she found that she was still holding the bouquet too.

It hadn't been easy to do what she'd done. First things first she'd nearly tripped over her dress and veil multiple times. The first time had been when she'd climbed out the window and the second time was when she got into the taxi. During her crime fighter days she'd had amazing balance. The high heels had thrown it off though. So she'd developed a sort of sashaying walk while draping her veil over her arm and pulling her skirt off the ground.

So she did make a sight to be seen. It wasn't something that you saw on the street every day, a woman in full bridal attire getting into a taxi alone or speed walking down the sidewalk. So, in chronological order, she had been stared at by a newspaper vendor, some people on the street, a taxi driver, and finally when she came to the gates of the Hargreeves mansion, Pogo.

Pogo had looked like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on him when he saw her. He took in the dress, veil, shoes, and bouquet with something bordering disbelief. Rumor was pretty sure that she saw him pinch himself. Finally he'd said;

"You're supposed to be getting married."

"Changed my mind," she said.

He'd looked at her for another minute before saying;

"Excuse me?"

"I decided that I didn't want to marry Patrick," she said, getting frustrated, "Now, do you know where Luther is?"

"Luther?" Pogo asked, taken back, "What's he got to do with-?"

"Pogo," she interrupted, "I'll tell you all about the whole thing later. But there are much, much bigger things going on here right now. I just need to know where he is."

Still looking as though he believed he was in _The Twilight Zone _Pogo replied;

"He's on the roof, checking weather signals for the launch. He's going to be leaving soon you know. But you left Patrick? It might be none of my business…but why? You seemed like you really wanted to-"

"It's kind of complicated," Rumor said hurriedly, "Like I said, I'll tell you all about it later."

The look on Pogo's face clearly said that he wanted to hear about it now. Instead Rumor had turned around and headed up to the roof. So that's where she was now, trying to figure out just what she wanted to say. Space examined her as he very slowly put his equipment down.

"Weren't you supposed to be getting married?" he asked lamely.

"That's the first thing that you say to me?" she said, raising an eyebrow and sitting down on the ledge of the roof. It had been a long trip and her feet were sore, "I think that it's sort obvious that I didn't."

He faltered and looked everywhere but at her.

"Why not?"

She looked at him incredulously.

"I changed my mind."

Rumor waited for him to say something. He never had been good at situations like this though. That was one thing that she definitely remembered about him. So it would have to be her to start talking. She looked around for inspiration. Finally her eyes rested on the bouquet. Rumor turned it over in her hands for a minute before speaking.

"It's…it's sort of…it's sort of like this," she said, "Do... you see these flowers?"

Space looked at her like he was lost.

"Roses for eternal love, lilies for sweetness, and baby's breath for children," said Rumor from memory, "They're a traditional bridal bouquet. It's for good luck and all that. Before the wedding, after I finished getting ready…I was thinking about them and how…and how they really didn't fit my wedding. Then I started thinking…about what you said."

There was still confusion in his eyes but he looked intently at her. Swallowing hard Rumor continued.

"Roses. You love me, Patrick doesn't," she said, "and to be perfectly honest I really don't love Patrick. So I don't have love. I can't…I can't have lilies for sweetness without roses for love. They…sweetness and love…they generally go together…if you know what I mean. So I can't get those with Patrick."

"I can't give you a normal relationship," he said sadly, "I can't give you normal love or normal happiness."

"I'm not finished," she said sharply, "then there's baby's breath. If the parents don't love each other then they probably won't love their kids properly."

"If we did have children," said Space, even sadder, "Then they wouldn't look or be normal. Look at me Allison! I said it once and I'll say it again. I can't give you what you want in life-!"

"Will you just shut up!?" she snapped.

He looked taken back and Rumor couldn't blame him. Last night she had basically told him to get lost. Now she was trying to ask him to stay. What's more was that she was doing so in a rather artless and crude fashion. Rumor wanted it to be better. Her painted lips searched for words but they seemed to find nothing worth saying. Once more she looked at the bouquet for inspiration.

"I…I think you can give me what I want in life," replied Rumor slowly, "I think that you just don't know it."

There was a short pause.

"…I honestly don't think I can," he said slowly, "You want something normal and real and all I can give you is something the world can raise its eyebrows at. I…I'm sorry. But that really is all that I can give you."

Her high heels clicked on the roof as she walked up to him, once more swallowing hard and wishing she had planned this out better. Yet, she hadn't. She'd just have to do the best that she could with what she had. Admittedly that wasn't much. However, that was all **she **could give.

"I don't care about living a normal life anymore," she whispered, "If the world wants to raise its eyebrows then let it raise the damned things. There are things that I want more than a normal life. If you loved me and I didn't love you back then it wouldn't have made much of a difference, but that's not the case. I do love you back. If we love each other, then making a life together will be sweet."

He opened his mouth but Rumor put one white-gloved finger over his lips. Softly she raised her other hand so that she could cup his face in them.

"As for kids," murmured Rumor softly, "Our kids might not be one hundred percent normal. Yet, wouldn't it be better to be odd with two loving parents then normal with two that hated each other? Luther, I want you. I want you and any life that you can give me because it's **you **that's giving it. That's all I want."

Space looked like there were a few tears in his eyes. His lips moved inarticulately before saying;

"If that's what you want," he said, "If that's what you want then I'll try my damndest to give it to you."

Hesitantly he leaned his head a little closer to her hers. Space was very tall after all. Very slowly he wrapped his arms around her. His hands alone were so big that they completely enveloped her. His hands and arms together made it so that she was perhaps a little buried in them. Rumor was fine with that.

Pushing up on her toes she tried to reach his lips. Again she realized that he was far too tall. He smiled a little when he saw this and leaned down further. Finally she managed to make contact. She kissed him hard, trying to convey everything that he she had been feeling for the past few hours. He made an odd sort of noise, but kissed back. The bouquet slipped from her hands, but in a different sense she kept it with her. Roses, lilies, baby's breath.


End file.
